Monday, August 16, 2010
Genetically engineered salmon under FDA consideration
Some in the fish farming industry are leery of the move toward engineered fish. "No! It is not even up for discussion," said Jorgen Christiansen, director of communications for Oslo-based Marine Harvest, one of the world's largest salmon producers.
– Los Angeles Times
More: articles.latimes.com
Two lives saved in Bristol Bay
A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crew plucks fishermen out of the water after they were forced to abandon their 32-foot boat.
– Coast Guard press release
More:www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com
Kodiak to say thanks to its seafood processors
The plan is to reward all with a commemorative T-shirt.
– KMXT radio
More:www.kmxt.org
Yukon River fall chum run shaping up as a bust
Not only does a poor fall chum run mean fewer fish to put away for subsistence in the form of human and dog food, it also means no commercial fishing, which provides a source of much-needed income for residents along the Yukon River, especially in the lower river.
– Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
More:newsminer.com
NOAA takes fresh look at hatchery plan
The agency overseeing Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead fishery management is exploring alternatives to guide future federal hatchery operations and reduce the impact of human-raised fish on natural fish populations.
– Tri-City Herald
Ratfish rule in Puget Sound
More than a century of overfishing and pollution may have contributed to the hegemony of the ratfish, experts say. But the species isn't a newcomer to these waters. Ancient and adaptable, the homely relatives of sharks were abundant enough to be a nuisance for bottom trawlers in the 1940s.
– Seattle Times
More:seattletimes.nwsource.com
Fraser sockeye run is encouraging
Gillnetters lined the Fraser River one day last week as fishermen jostled for position to take advantage of a rare opening in the commercial sockeye salmon fishery.
– Maple Ridge News
More:www.bclocalnews.com
Alternative gear testing planned on lower Columbia
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife will work with commercial salmon fishers to test purse seines, beach seines and trap nets. In addition, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will work with a team of commercial fishers to test commercial troll gear and tangle nets during fall Chinook and coho salmon runs.
– Newport, Ore., News Times
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Adak takes a sea lion licking
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council this week is reviewing the federal government's new fishing restrictions to protect endangered Steller sea lions. One casualty of the restrictions could be Adak, a former military base turned fishing town in the Aleutians.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy's Deckboss blog
First nation plans second geoduck fishery protest
A Vancouver Island first nation is threatening to disrupt the geoduck fishery again, saying it will use a flotilla of boats to make it too dangerous for divers to harvest the ugly but profitable shellfish if the federal government reopens the area for commercial activity. – The Globe and Mail More:www.theglobeandmail.com
Hot pinks in Prince William Sound
Seiners set a record for one week's catch of pink salmon. – Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy's Deckboss blog More:deckboss.blogspot.com
Sockeye back with a splash in Fraser River
With the estimated sockeye salmon stocks now at 14 million and expected to rise, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans is considering opening another commercial salmon fishery on the Fraser later this week.
– Vancouver Sun
More:www.vancouversun.com
Cold case: Troopers revisit Bristol Bay fisherman's murder
He was stabbed dead – in an attack no one has admitted witnessing – in the parking lot of a crowded bar one summer night 28 years ago, apparently during a robbery over the cash he earned fishing.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Distant Aleutians LORAN tower is done
Last week, the U.S. Coast Guard demolished the tallest structure on Attu Island
– a 625-foot LORAN tower.
– KUCB radio
More:www.publicbroadcasting.net
Nontoxic muck determination keys effort to remove Klamath dams
Federal scientists have confirmed a California agency's findings that the sediment trapped behind four Klamath River dams is largely uncontaminated, a critical determination if the removal of those dams is to go forward.
– Eureka, Calif., Times-Standard
Louisiana shrimpers get back to work
Shrimpers began trawling big stretches of Louisiana coastal waters Monday as the fall season got under way, in the latest sign that the Gulf of Mexico's fishing industry is starting to bounce back from a massive oil spill.
– Wall Street Journal
More:online.wsj.com
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Memorial service today in Anchorage for Sen. Ted Stevens
Here are details on the time and location of the service, who will speak, and where the event will be broadcast.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Northern pike threaten Kenai
The invasive fish has been newly discovered in a lake connected to the salmon-rich Kenai River. A state biologist suspects illegal stocking.
– Kenai, Alaska, Peninsula Clarion
More: www.peninsulaclarion.com
Skeletal remains hauled in off Eureka
The remains, missing the skull, were caught in the net of the fishing vessel Sea Princess on Sunday afternoon, officials said.
– Eureka, Calif., Times-Standard
More: www.times-standard.com
Oregon crabbers pleased with 'banner' Dungeness season
There are plenty of reasons to be worried about the ocean these days, from climate change to dead zones to rising sea levels. But there's at least one very bright spot along Oregon's coast, an indicator that in some ways, the Pacific is humming along just fine: It's Dungeness crab.
– Eugene, Ore., Register-Guard
More: www.registerguard.com
Candidates line up for Unalaska offices
In the mayor's race, incumbent Shirley Marquardt will be running against city council member Dick Peck.
– KUCB radio
More:www.publicbroadcasting.net
Column: Vancouver Island coal mine is a worry
The Raven mine proposed for Buckley Bay could usher in a grimy, industrial "mini-Appalachia" and threaten some of British Columbia's most productive and successful shellfish aquaculture, some say.
– Vancouver Sun
More: www.vancouversun.com
Fishing legacy fades from some New England ports
Tough new rules enacted in May have fishermen at New England's major ports, Gloucester and New Bedford, worried their history will fade away as fishermen faced with low catch limits sell out to larger interests. It's already happened in smaller ports, slowly changing the character of the New England coast.
– Associated Press
More: www.google.com
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Steller sea lion closures compel creativity in Alaska
The fishing industry has proposed an alternative in hopes it will pass muster with NMFS and allow continued cod and Atka mackerel harvests.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy's blog, Deckboss
Skeleton hauled in fishing net identified as lost trawler crewman
Human remains recovered in a fishing net 18 miles off the coast Sunday have been tentatively identified as those of David Burns Morgan, who was lost at sea in March 2009. – Eureka, Calif., Times-Standard More:www.times-standard.com
Court says mud from logging roads is pollution
A San Francisco appeals court has ordered the EPA to write regulations to reduce the amount that reaches salmon streams.
– Peninsula Daily News of Port Angeles, Wash.
More:www.peninsuladailynews.com
Alaska senator still on hook for alleged subsistence violation
A Superior Court judge in Sitka has denied state Sen. Albert Kookesh's motion to dismiss a charge of overfishing his subsistence salmon permit, paving the way for a trial next month.
– Juneau Empire
More:www.juneauempire.com
Alaska election regulators investigate anti-Pebble radio ads
Did Alaska Wild Salmon Protection Inc. commit campaign law violations in telling Alaskans to vote for candidates who oppose the huge copper and gold mine?
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
Newport, Ore., now seems secure in winning NOAA fleet
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke acknowledged Wednesday that NOAA failed to adequately consider basing its research fleet in Seattle, before it decided to lease docks in Oregon. But it's too late to go back to the drawing board.
– Seattle Times
More:seattletimes.nwsource.com
Stakeholders work toward proposal on California marine reserves
As local representatives head into a final round of meetings on drafting marine reserves for the North Coast, they may be close to an agreement on a unified proposal that will be submitted to state rule makers.
– Eureka, Calif., Times-Standard
Hurry if you want to tour a Canadian salmon farm
The public tour program, hosted by the BC Salmon Famers Association, runs each Thursday until Sept. 16, rotating visits amongst local companies in the Discovery Passage area.
– Campbell River Mirror
More:www.bclocalnews.com
Friday, August 20, 2010
Alaska salmon tender salvaged
The state closed commercial fishing in a section of western Prince William Sound after the Cape Cross went aground on July 26 and partially sank.
– Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy's blog, Deckboss
More:deckboss.blogspot.com
'People are important too'
Some fearful and upset fishermen testified in Anchorage on Thursday against a federal proposal to shut down key commercial fisheries in the western Aleutians to provide more fish for the region's dwindling sea lion population.
– Anchorage Daily News
More:www.adn.com
A Gig Harbor old-timer talks 40 years of commercial fishing
"By God, in two days of fishing, we almost made our whole season's catch in just those couple of days," George Ancich recalls. The next year, 1943,"… there was not a single damn fish."
– Kitsap Sun
More:www.kitsapsun.com
Alaska's pink salmon bounty
Prince William Sound fishermen are well on their way to a record harvest of pink salmon. And the fish are big!
– Jay Barrett's Alaska Fisheries Report, KMXT radio in Kodiak
More:www.kmxt.org
OK, fish, start climbing
Crews have repaired a damaged fish ladder just in time for the Deschutes River Chinook salmon migration.
– The Tacoma News Tribune
More:www.thenewstribune.com
Looking back on Fraser River woes
The Cohen Commission of Inquiry into the Decline of Sockeye Salmon in the Fraser River will hold a public forum in Campbell River on Wednesday, Aug. 25.
– Courier-Islander
More:www2.canada.com
Alaska governor signs two bills of interest to fish folk
One law lays the groundwork for a possible road between King Cove and Cold Bay, while the other gives more fishermen access to state loans for engine upgrades.
– Press release
More:gov.alaska.gov
